Recently, I acquired some Czech pressed glass pieces which were on my wish list... but it seems to me the more I've got, the more I want. My list gets shorter, then longer. Will there ever be an end? I think not.

The first piece is a Frantisek Peceny vase for Hermanova, no. 20307 with heavily moulded flower decoration. At 26cm, it is massive and almost grotesque, which is exactly what I love about it! The vase looks alive.

The second piece is a 17cm Miroslav Kubinec vase for Hermanova, no. 20324 with what I'd call a 'flower growing from the ground' decoration. I really like this vase -- the more you look at it (i.e. the decoration) the more you see. It's like a story.

The third piece is a 'nipply' Pavel Panek vase for Hermanova, no. 20218... I just love the feel of it.

Of course, there is also the Miroslav Kubinec 'Akty' vase I posted some time ago in another thread which was my most wanted piece, and one of my most loved.

Anik, your list is still short compared to mine (and we are just talking of pressed glass here

But the Vizner jardinieres are high up on my list as well (I love the geometric and organic Sklo Union pieces a lot, the ones with floral decoration a little less).I'm sure you will like my very first Czech pressed glass purchase, a Pavel Panek "Kvety" vase in quite an unusual shape I think -- at least I have not seen this shape anywhere else so far:http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,38057.0.html

I do quite like the Panek 'bellybutton' bowl I posted here: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,41227.0.html. But alone, it looks a bit sad and out-of-place. That's why the two small vases which Emil has in his gallery are on my list. As a threesome, they'd make a wonderful display.

As for Vizner's pressed glass designs, I'd love to have them all (with the exception of the footed Rosice 862... I greatly dislike footed vases). They're industrial and masculine and heavy... They're perfect in every way. :sm:

I totally agree with you, Anik! I guess I would not buy any other piece from the "Kvety" range, but I do think that the overall shape of my vase makes it much more attractive than the rest of the gang

And I agree as well that the Vizner 862 will not enter my collection -- looks more like a big champagne glass than a vase...Although I think that most of Vizner's pressed glass designs are gorgeous, I was not very impressed when I saw the 13181 vase (with the maze pattern) in real life. So I didn't buy it, though it was quite cheap.

Do you also like the Schrötter pieces from the 30s that continued in production after 1945 or are you purely into the post WW2 design? Pieces like his Rudolofova 11733 are clearly forerunners of the 50s design philosophy, albeit in lighter form and also fitting into Art Deco style.

I tend to stick to postwar Czech designs, more specifically, mid-50s and onwards. From what I've seen in catalogues and at the antiques market pre-war glass designs (of whatever country... I know too little to be able to identify a maker) tend to be either too heavy and gaudy, or too dainty and busy for my taste. I prefer cleaner, less fussy forms, and I love the optical effects, abstractions, and surface designs of post-50s pieces. For me, the father of these designs was Schrötter's 'lens' vase from 1955 -- absolutely brilliant piece. I've got 8 (so far) in my collection.